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Wednesday, 25 May 2016

Although we know that
metals inside a microwave can cause some serious damage, inorganic material are
a different thing altogether. These non metallic, non reactive vessels of
glass, ceramic or plastic do not absorb the radio waves at the frequency
delivered by the microwave and hence do not heat up that much in it. There is
something weird however, it seems that you can use any flat sheet of metal,
usually the thicker the better, safely inside any microwave because they act
just like the metal walls. These metal sheets then reflect the waves instead of
absorbing them a flat sheet of metal can actually shield your food from being
heated too much and can even reflect the waves on to those areas which you want
to be heated more than the rest of the food such as the base of the pizza.

Sometimes though, the
electromagnetic field inside the microwave can get varied away and generate
small miniscule arcs of electrical discharge. Innocuous items such as carrots
or hot dogs can cause such a phenomenon. A higher level of sparks can be
detected on the gold rim of your fancy cutlery too. However a sizeable chunk of
foil which is curved will spell chaos and will surely kill your kitchen
appliance as well as damage the surrounding area. Different to the proper walls
of a microwave, the thin, pointed and small pieces of foil will not be able to
withstand the rapid heating in a microwave and will subsequently ignite. Any of
the edges which are crinkly or thin will allow the current to run along them
arching them up against the metal walls of the microwave and as a result
setting your food ablaze.

If you tend to the problem
immediately you can avoid any serious damage to your kitchen appliance or its
surroundings, by simply removing the irritant metal piece. However a long time
in the microwave, or a large chunk of aluminum foil will very likely cause
damage which is irreparable. It is also possible that it can cause a fire in
the surroundings of your microwave.

The USDA advises the
following on using foil in microwaves;

Use smooth, new foil only.
Wrinkled foil can cause sparks.

Cover only a quarter of
the food with foil.

Shape it smoothly.

The foil should not be
close than 1 inch to the walls of the microwave.

The shiny or dull side of
the foil does not make any difference.

If the microwave has a
metal shelf or metal turntable, do not use any metal pans or foil containers,
and prevent the foil from touching the metal turntable or shelf.

If you see any sparks
remove the foil immediately and transfer the cold food from the foil container
into any container which is microwave friendly.

Hence it can be concluded
that if you keep the metal thick and flat, and cover the least amount of space
possible, you can heat up even your gourmet meal.